Thy Kingdom Come
by rozukitsune
Summary: Ansem the wise is the king of Twilight town. His brother Xemnas is not only jealous but intends for his son Sephiroth to take the throne instead of Ansem's son Riku. Unfortunately he knows just which buttons to push and Riku will have to use everything he
1. Prologue

**Thy Kingdom come**

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Summary: Ansem the wise is the king of Twilight town. His brother Xemnas is not only jealous but intends for his son Sephiroth to take the throne instead of Ansem's son Riku. Unfortunately he knows just which buttons to push and Riku will have to use everything he knows to earn his rightful place as king.

Rating: T – For language, might raise the rating depending.

Warning: Spoilers from KH2, not much of them though. Yaoi, Riku +Sora pairing.

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(Prologue)

A young silver haired boy of about five years was out in the vast backyard. He was sitting in the garden admiring the flowers.

"Son… I've hired a trainer." said a gruff yet friendly voice from behind him. The young silver haired boy looked up, his aquamarine eyes sparkling with confusion.

"A trainer? What do I need a trainer for?" chirped the little boy. The little boy loved his father, for he was a very fair man, kind and intelligent, plus he was king of the world. Or at least Traverse Town.

"Someday you may need to defend yourself… I want you to be ready when that day comes."

"Defend myself? Against what?" asked the boy cutely, running up to hug his Father. So certain that as long as his daddy was around he wouldn't have to worry about anything.

The white-haired older man smiled at the antics of his young son. "Against people who might want to hurt you. People who might want to take away what is rightfully yours."

"But you'll protect me daddy… won't you?" Big aquamarine eyes shimmered up into solemn emerald ones.

"Riku… you may not always have me around to help you. I will get old… and when I get old I will be too slow. You need to be able to protect yourself. Ok?"

Though the boy was young, and he didn't really understand why his father wanted him to train. He figured that it would just help him to be strong like his daddy… and he definitely wanted to be just like his daddy. So with an adorably huge grin he nodded his silver mop vigorously. "Ok daddy."

"That's a good lad. Come now Riku and meet your trainer."

Hand in hand the two walked over to the large grassy area where Riku watched his father practice fighting every day. A mat for tumbling had been added as well as some bell-bars and weights. One pole stood out that would be where Riku would practice his pull-ups.

But for now, the young silver-haired boy smiled at everything innocently. Beaming a large excited grin as he tried to imagine what all the gleaming metal things were for.

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(A few days later)

A tall young man watched as young Riku ran around the mile-long track on his orders. The scrawny wimp was a far cry from what anyone would call a natural when it came to any hard work. Already the brunette had tried out the boy's skills and found that he had none.

'Five year olds…' He grumbled mentally, running a hand through his long, spiky, reddish-brown hair. He had been singled out among his peers who were all members of the royal guard, to train this little brat in the ways of fighting.

'Why the hell didn't he pick Lexaeus for this. He's built like a goddamn rhinoceros.' The man sighed and stopped this line of thought. 'I suppose I should be honored that his majesty thought it suitable for me to train this whelp, though it's directly against the plan…' He smirked and summoned up his chakrams as the little boy rounded the corner.

'Let's see how fast his reflexes are…'

Next thing little Riku knew he was on the ground bleeding from a small gash in his cheek. "Axelllllllllllll! Why'd you throw that thing at meeeee!" He whined, sniffling as he picked himself up off the sand.

Axel rolled his eyes at the little boy, "Get up and stop acting like a wuss. Listen here… from this day forward you are going to work hard, and train tough. I don't want to see any more of these tears. They're weak! You are weak! Show me some pushups!" He ordered, pointing to the ground.

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Weeks dragged on, Riku getting several scrapes similar to the one he'd gotten that first day of his training. At the end of a month, he'd finally given up on threatening Axel with termination for trying to kill him. The response was always the same, "If I wanted to kill you… I would've done it already."

He struggled to learn to do pushups properly, using his knee's to help him the first few days before Axel had caught him and forced him to do it properly. He ran at least five laps around that stupid track every day and once in a while Axel would toss a chakram at him just to see if he was paying attention. His first attempt at the pull up bar had been an embarrassing encounter, but now he could almost pull himself up all of the way. Though Riku had initially thought Axel was just being mean, he found himself getting better as the years wore on.

His first battle with the older man had gone horribly and Axel had refused to give him a rematch saying that he needed to learn how to protect himself in battle first before he could learn to attack.

The mat turned out to be where Axel would force him to practice gymnastic tricks. Standing on his head, somersaulting, back flips, front flips, etc. He once mentioned that he didn't understand why he had to know how to do these… incredibly girly things, but the next time they faced off he found himself using those same techniques for dodging those annoying chakrams and understood.

At the age of ten the boy was well muscled and could pull himself up one-handed on the bars.

Axel marveled at how much the young one had grown, realizing that the king must have known that he'd be such a harsh taskmaster and that Riku wouldn't have collapsed like a fragile flower, but instead take it all in stride. He found himself becoming proud of the way the young boy was growing up and decided that he'd add a fighting companion.

The newest member of the guard was a blonde named Roxas that Axel had rescued from the slums of the city, having seen the young boy fight off some neighborhood bullies with a finesse that Axel had been impressed with.

He brought Roxas to the castle grounds and from that day forward Riku and he became rivals, Axel becoming rather fond of both of them, though he'd never admit it to any of his peers.

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Meanwhile in a smaller nearby castle, the brother of the king sat fuming upon his throne. "He's going to run the world forever… when I should be the one sitting upon that throne!" He slammed a mug down onto the table, causing some of the members of the guard to jump involuntarily.

"Not necessarily Xemnas… there may be a time in the future when young Riku can not qualify for king, and then young Sephiroth would default to the throne." Said a young sadistic blonde sitting at the end of the table who'd been one of the few who hadn't jumped earlier. She was filing her nails as she said this, making her look like even more of an annoying blonde.

"Hmmm you may have a point there Larxene." Xemnas replied, sitting back thoughtfully and running a hand through his white hair.

"I don't understand why you don't just have me shoot him." A black-haired man with grey streaks in his hair muttered in annoyance seated to Xemnas's left.

"No Xigbar… it would raise too much publicity… they'd trace it to me eventually." Xemnas replied.

"I say we keep an eye on him. In the meantime I will read the rule-book and find out what sort of loopholes we may be able to utilize." Said a dirty-blonde haired young man who was seated next to Xigbar.

"Thank you Vexen… the rest of you keep on your guard. Nothing unusual is to happen to his young majesty. We must either find a way to destroy him without the possibility of blame, or use the loop-hole method." Xemnas declared.

The others nodded and went to do their jobs. Xemnas rubbed his hands together with a smile, perhaps he had a chance yet…

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**rozukitsune**


	2. The new staff member

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Summary: Ansem the wise is the king of Twilight town. His brother Xemnas is not only jealous but intends for his son Sephiroth to take the throne instead of Ansem's son Riku. Unfortunately he knows just which buttons to push and Riku will have to use everything he knows to earn his rightful place as king.

Rating: T – For language, might raise the rating depending.

Warning: Spoilers from KH2, not much of them though. Yaoi, Riku +Sora pairing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 1: The new staff member)

A young man in his late teens sat on the rooftop of one of the tallest towers of the castle, his shoulder-length silver hair blowing in the generous wind as he overlooked his kingdom.

Well… it wasn't his kingdom yet. For the past several years his Uncle had been reminding his father that if he didn't marry by his eighteenth birthday, the year when he came of age, then the throne would default to the next of kin who _had_ married on time. Namely his cousin Sephiroth, or Sephy as Riku loved to call him, who had married back when the two were merely sixteen years old.

"Humph, marriage… who came up with that damn marriage law anyways." He grumbled in his naturally husky tones. "As if Sephy really meant it anyways… I'll bet as soon as the throne is safely under his sorry ass he'll go back to being the obnoxious slut that he is." Riku hadn't stopped grumbling about the marriage since it had happened a year ago.

It wasn't like he hadn't _tried_ though. Riku figured he must have met and dated every single girl in the nearby kingdoms and quite a few from other worlds entirely. At first he'd only bothered with princesses, trying to do the proper thing. He'd rapidly run out of those however and at his father's almost frantic insistence, he continued dating first rich then common and even the less fortunate girls. Once in a while he'd come across a girl he thought he really liked… but something just never clicked inside of him. He wasn't interested and he just didn't understand it.

When he'd first begun his father had been kind, "Don't worry, there's plenty of fish in the sea." Or "You'll know when the right one comes along." But that point in time seemed well out of reach.

"Something is seriously wrong with me." Riku muttered unhappily as he ran a pale hand through his silver hair. He sighed and decided to wander out in the town to clear his mind a little. He jumped down off of the tower and landed with a soft thud on the porch below. After dusting himself off a little he strode into his room, intent on dressing down for wandering the streets. When he entered his room however, he froze.

Folding the clothing and tucking in the sheets in his bedroom was the most beautiful thing his aquamarine eyes had ever seen. Chocolate brown spiked locks were strewn haphazardly about a tanned angelic face. Brilliant sky-blue eyes were narrowed in concentration as they watched delicate fingers carefully finding the lining in his pants in order to hang them properly.

Riku felt his heart pounding against his chest, a slight whoosh of lightheadedness coming out of nowhere as he watched this stranger putting his boxers away in the dresser. His mouth was dry and he could not find his voice, which he was rather thankful for as he knew if he had tried to speak he would shatter the moment with his clumsiness.

Who was this guy? Riku had never seen him before within the castle, but he immediately decided that he was never going to let this enchanting creature out of his sight again.

'Wait! Hold up…' His thoughts suddenly burst into pieces, his euphoria swirling into chaos as he suddenly realized what had just happened to him. 'I'm GAY?' He was stunned at this revelation, his eyes still locked upon the piece of moving artwork in his room. 'Well that explains a lot actually.' He decided.

The understatement of the century… no _wonder_ he hadn't fallen for any of the girl's he'd met! He simply didn't flow that way, he nearly laughed out loud in relief as he finally realized what the problem had been all along. The mirth died almost in an instant, being replaced by a sense of impending doom. 'My dad is so going to _kill_ me!' He thought frantically.

"Oh! Your highness! I didn't realize you were there. I'm sorry… I'll go now." A melodious angelic voice broke his train of thought and brought attention back to the shy young man who was slowly backing out of his room.

"No wait!" Riku managed, finding his voice at last. "Wait… who are you? What are you doing in my room?" He cringed inwardly as he realized how he might have sounded to the poor servant who looked up at him fearfully and started wringing his hands.

"M…my name is Sora. I'm new to the servants quarters… please don't fire me! It's only my first day! I promise I can do better." The brunette bowed his head tearfully and shook a bit as he prostrated himself before Riku.

"What? Oh, no! You haven't done anything wrong!" Riku laughed, waving his hands in a friendly manner. "I'm sorry I came off sounding so … well, I mean I was just trying to figure out who you were. I've just never seen you before." Riku explained.

Sora nodded numbly, wondering if he aught to stay put or run off to hide in the servants quarters. He was surprised when Riku lifted his head up, aquamarine eyes staring into sky-blue ones. "Don't bow before me… I only make my enemies do that." Riku grinned.

Sora stared at him then slowly rose obediently, trying to figure out this royal person in front of him.

"Listen, I want you to be my personal servant, one of the other maids or servants can clean my room. I could use a new friend, what do you say?" Riku smiled warmly.

"You… want to be… friends?" Sora asked in confusion, trying to figure out what this new word meant.

Riku almost laughed at the adorable expression on Sora's face. "Yes, yes. Your new orders are to stick to me like glue. Rule number one, if you want something it's yours. Within reason obviously. Rule number two, you will address me as Riku. Not your majesty. We'll work on the friend thing when you've got those two sorted out."

"But your majest…I mean, R…ri…ku," Sora stammered in amazement, "I'm just a servant boy… I don't deserve to be treated with such kindness… I'm supposed to serve you, not have others serving me." He said, scratching his toes against the carpet nervously. He'd just been given the giant rule-book this morning… in the form of threats that if he did anything wrong his back would pay for it.

Riku sighed, this was going to be difficult, he had to undo all of the brainwashing the head servants had done to this poor boy. And he had to start out by ordering him to do the simplest things like sitting down and relaxing. 'Oh well… he'll get it in the end.' He though happily as he prepared to make friendship sound like a direct order.

"Alright… we'll try it this way then. Till you get used to it. You will report directly to me, you will sleep in a small cot in my room on the floor. Anything I ask of you you will do or else. Got it?" Riku said. Sora nodded vigorously, timidly racing off to find a cot to put in Riku's huge room.

Riku sighed. 'It will be worth it.'

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**You will be my friend and that's an order. Lol… rozukitsune.**


	3. The problem with boys

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Summary: Ansem the wise is the king of Twilight town. His brother Xemnas is not only jealous but intends for his son Sephiroth to take the throne instead of Ansem's son Riku. Unfortunately he knows just which buttons to push and Riku will have to use everything he knows to earn his rightful place as king.

Rating: T – For language, might raise the rating depending.

Warning: Spoilers from KH2, not much of them though. Yaoi, Riku +Sora pairing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 2: The problem with boys)

"You're _what_?" Ansem the wise asked of his seventeen-year-old son who was kneeling before his throne and staring at his royal purple sneakers in fascination. That calm and collected tone of voice meant a myriad of different things, today it defined the confusion (soon to be anger) of a strange confession made to him by his one and only son.

Riku shivered from head to toe, if it had been anyone else talking to him like that it would've passed right over him without a seconds glance, but the silver-haired teen had always been unexplainably affected by any of his father's moods towards him. "I'm gay." He repeated, pretending to be fascinated by the checkerboard marble floor tile beneath his feet.

A black and white checkerboard in the shape of a pentagon was the national coat of arms, Riku had to wear a suit checkered in white and black whenever he went out to a formal meeting of the worlds. He thought it made him look like a jester rather than a prince, but that was neither here nor there.

"And how do you know that?" Ansem asked carefully, hoping that in his voice he managed to carry across his suspicions of the brown-haired servant that Riku had been seen with a few days earlier.

"Dad… come on, I've met every single girl in the universe and never once fell in love. I think it would be painfully obvious at that point." Riku replied, not for an instant giving in to that suspicious tone, knowing better than to do so.

The boy had a point, and in fact the king had considered this line of logic himself a time or two when one of Riku's particularly long and promising partners had ended up not working out for the silver-haired young man. The king ran his hand over his face and through his stark white hair.

"Riku… do you understand what this means?" Ansem asked the teenager, staring at him with a sense of incredible sadness.

Riku looked up into those sad eyes and swallowed hard, the meaning behind them not lost on his brilliant mind.

"You can't ever be king." Ansem finished quietly, sitting back in his chair and sighing softly.

Riku's sharp eyes wavered slightly as they tried to pry out the truth from the corners of the older man's eyes. Then he sighed and bowed his silver head, not really knowing what to say in response. He couldn't be king… it said so right in the rules that the future king had to marry… and he certainly couldn't marry another male, that sort of thing was banned by law as well.

"Well… I'm still royalty right?" Riku managed with a half-a-smile, up at his father.

The man rose out of his chair and at his full height, glanced down at the teenager solemnly. "Be careful my son… that's all I can tell you."

Riku nodded and kneeled for a while longer even after his father had left the room.

There was no chance, there would never be a chance for him, but he found it hadn't mattered nearly as much to him as it should have. Somehow, the idea that he could spend the rest of his life freely with the adorable young boy he'd met just a few days before brightened up the solemness of his mood. It would be alright, he just knew it would.

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"Sit, enjoy." Riku ordered as he watched the chocolate haired boy plop obediently into the white lounge chair beside him. Weeks into their slow relationship, Sora was finally getting used to wearing the fine clothing that Riku bought for him. He also had stopped asking Riku incessantly if he wanted anything, which Riku considered progress.

"So… this is your new pet." Said a slow drawl from the most foul of lips Riku had ever known to exist.

"He's not a pet Larxene." Riku said immediately in the brunette's defense, rising out of his chair and assuming a fighting stance as the blonde appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Oooo… he's a cutie! Can I play with him for a while?" Larxene asked silkily, her blue eyes wandering over Sora as though he were a large piece of chocolate cake. She even licked her lips to emphasize her point.

Sora shivered inadvertently from where he sat, not liking the look that that strange woman was giving him at all.

"He's not a toy Larxene… now beat it!" Riku ordered, his temper rising. He couldn't stand being in this woman's presence for more than a few minutes at most.

She sauntered lazily over to him and drew him to her, her long nails drawing along his shoulder muscles causing him to involuntarily twitch towards her. "Boo hoo… big meany doesn't want to share." She said, leaning over slightly to run her tongue along his earlobe. "Whatever happened between us Riku?" She asked flirtatiously, continuing to run her fingers in all the right places of his upper torso.

"I found out that you were a slut." He replied huskily, shivering involuntarily to her familiar touch.

"We shouldn't have let something so trivial get between us." She muttered, drawing her lips against his. A big mistake as suddenly she found herself sprawling into the dirt, Riku's face alive with fury.

"Get the hell out of my sight." He ordered angrily, pointing with his finger to emphasize his point.

"Touchy! Well excuuuse me!" She muttered angrily, vanishing from whence she came.

The scene had been almost an exact replay of the night he'd broken up with that bitch. He'd caught her with some other member of the guard, and she'd had the nerve to try to kiss him then too.

"Whore…" He muttered, turning around to see if Sora was alright.

The boy was simply staring at him curiously, and if Riku's eyes didn't deceive him, with a tinge of jealousy. He raised a delicate silver eyebrow and smiled, going over to sit near his angel. "Sorry 'bout that. Can't get rid of her… she works for my dad. Most annoying woman you'll ever meet in your entire life." Riku explained with a smile.

"Riku… how come you don't like girls?" Sora asked innocently, staring at him with his big blue eyes.

"Eh? What makes you think I don't like girls?" Riku asked in surprise of the question.

"Well… I just noticed that you don't have any female friends… you hang around with guys all the time and… um… well you kind of look at me funny." Sora said quietly, earning a stunned look from Riku.

"Do I now?" Riku asked, his face sliding into a mischievous grin.

"Uh… Riku? Why are you smiling at me like… mmrph!" Sora nearly leaped out of his skin when he found the older teens lips warmly pressing against his own.

Sora's first instinct was to push him away and run as far away as possible, but then a little voice in his head whispered, **_It's about time…_** and the idea was forgotten, Sora inexpertly raising his arms to wrap them around Riku's broad shoulders.

Riku slowly pulled back for air, both of them panting softly. Aquamarine eyes searched sky-blue ones. "Sora… I…" He didn't know quite how to explain what he'd just done or why. He only knew that he couldn't have helped it, the boy had been so close… his cherry lips had been taunting him.

"Riku…" Sora whispered in response, pulling him back and allowing himself to get lost in the older teen's light flowery scent, his own cherry colored lips aching for more of what he'd only been given just a taste of.

"S…sora… I… I love you." It was a simple statement, but it tumbled from Riku's tanned lips with difficulty and Riku immediately regretted admitting it. He couldn't believe he'd just let the object of his affections know of his feelings so soon. What if the younger teen rejected him? He didn't think he could take that.

Apparently, he didn't really have to worry much as those cherry colored lips found his again, words beyond definition expressed in a simple kiss.

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**Awwwwwwwwwww**

**rozukitsune**


	4. The heir to the throne?

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Summary: Ansem the wise is the king of Twilight town. His brother Xemnas is not only jealous but intends for his son Sephiroth to take the throne instead of Ansem's son Riku. Unfortunately he knows just which buttons to push and Riku will have to use everything he knows to earn his rightful place as king.

Rating: T – For language, might raise the rating depending.

Warning: Spoilers from KH2, not much of them though. Yaoi, Riku +Sora pairing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 3: The heir to the throne?)

Xemnas' laughter rang through the throne room. A blonde woman had just told him the most excellent news. Apparently the heir to the throne had become smitten with a man! This would not be a problem if the heir were not a man himself. Xemnas couldn't have been happier; this meant that the throne would default to his son Sephiroth who was married already to the blonde in question.

"This is most excellent news Larxene… inform the rest of the guard of this at once." He sat back on his chair grinning like the Cheshire cat.

-----

"This is going just how we've planned." Marluxia, a man with long flowing brown hair said as he pressed his fingers together thoughtfully as Larxene entered the room.

"What's he doing in here?" She asked in surprise, gesturing to the spiky reddish-brown haired man seated to Marluxia's left.

"Who, Axel? He has joined the cause Larxene, so hold your tongue." Marluxia ordered.

"Is that so?" Larxene asked, narrowing her blue eyes at the man. "How do you know we can trust him?" She asked viperously, staring straight into the other's dark eyes.

"Well you remember how Vexen was poking his nose where it didn't belong?" Marluxia asked with a maniac grin.

"Yeah, I remember, that stupid science freak nearly revealed our plans to Xemnas…" Larxene muttered in annoyance.

"Well, Axel has killed him for us." Marluxia gestured to the man with another grin.

Larxene's mouth dropped open for a bit in surprise, and then she got a hold of herself and smiled at Axel in a honeyed fashion. "Oh… well then forgive me for being suspicious." She said grinning as she sat to Marluxia's right.

"You're forgiven." He replied with a secret grin.

"So we all know the plan right?" Marluxia asked of his small bunch of misfits.

"Actually I could do with a run over myself." Axel replied folding his arms across his chest and smiling slightly.

"Alright Axel… here's an update on everything we've done so far… and everything we plan for the future. You see, it was the guards' ideas initially to hire Sora because they noticed his charm. Of course Vexen was the one who came up with the idea that if Riku were to fall in love with a man rather than a woman then Sephiroth could become king instead… follow me so far?"

"Yes, I know that much Marluxia… I was there." Axel replied smiling.

"Well, Larxene and I are not satisfied with that result. If the kingdom is to change hands anyways… it should become ours, the loyal guard who have been serving loyally for thirteen years. Vexen was kind enough to find out for me the hierarchy of who becomes king in the event anything happens to de-instate the current one. Check this out." Marluxia grinned, slipping a stack of papers Axel's way.

As Axel poured over the pages of notes Marluxia continued. "You see… we know that Sora's charm has not only ensnared the heart of Prince Riku. It has also ensnared the heart of Prince Sephiroth… we know it is his intention that once he gets into power to change the rules so that he can have Sora in his bed."

Axel glanced up to see Larxene make an annoyed face.

"That wouldn't do… poor Larxene here was going to be a queen. Don't you think it's unfair that her future is to be taken away from her after all the hard work we've put in?" Marluxia asked Axel curiously.

"Oh absolutely…" Axel nodded as he continued to read. "So… according to Vexen's findings you're going to use that little blonde servant girl to mess with someone's memories?"

"Her name is Naminé, and she apparently has the ability to re-arrange the chain of memories in anyone's heart. She can even make new chains of memories that don't even exist. We can use her once Sephiroth becomes crowned king to make him forget his plans to marry Sora and then use the same technique to convince Sora that he loves Larxene." Marluxia said.

"Wait a second, you mean to tell me this is all a plot to give Sora to Larxene?" Axel asked casually.

Larxene grinned, "He's such a cute little toy… I couldn't resist."

"Why, Axel, getting cold feet?" Marluxia asked dangerously.

"Of course not Marluxia… I just don't think you've thought this through all the way. I mean, what about Prince Riku? He'll come after Sora too… you going to have Naminé rearrange his memories too? And what of Sephiroth, are you going to kill him or something? The way I see it you're going to have to do some mass memory swapping to get this right." Axel said.

Marluxia looked surprised, then thoughtful.

"He's right Marluxia! What are we going to do about that?" Larxene asked.

"Well… what do you think we should do Axel? Marluxia demanded with an evil smile.

Axel smiled and sat back in his chair. "Firstly, you need to get rid of both Ansem and Xemnas. Once they're out of the picture pretty much anything is fair game. Then… let Sephiroth get away with his little game. When Riku goes after Sora it'll be plainly obvious to the guard that he's dangerous and needs to be destroyed. There are twelve of us… there's no way his highness can get through everyone alive. After that you can come out and say that Riku also killed the kings. No one will question it because, certainly if the boy is willing to attempt to assassinate the new king he wouldn't stop at killing off the old one's to get to power."

Marluxia listened with his head propped up on his folded hands, a dark smile playing across his features. "Yes… go on…"

"So then we can use you're little pawn girl to mess with Sephiroth's memories before he tosses Larxene officially. We'll make him unsuitable for the throne by turning him into a blithering idiot. He'll get committed, leaving Larxene as Queen of the kingdom and Sora as her personal… toy." Axel finished with a flair, smiling casually at both of them.

Larxene gave him an appreciative glance, "You know… I'm glad that we managed to get a smart one on our side."

Axel shrugged modestly.

"Then the plan from there is simple… I become the royal adviser, and your right hand man. Axel of course can have whatever he wishes too as long as it doesn't interfere with our plans." Marluxia said with a smile.

"Oh I'm a pretty simple man. I'll probably be happy just to stay a member of the guard. Oh… and Roxas is of course to stay in the guard too." Axel replied.

"You've gotten awfully attached to that boy haven't you?" Marluxia remarked raising an eyebrow.

"Perhaps… he's like the son I'll never have." Axel replied, a hint of fondness tinting his tone.

"Indeed… well, I believe we've said all we need to. The rest of the guard should be getting on their lunch break by now, so we need to make ourselves scarce so that we can blend in." Marluxia said getting up out of his chair.

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**Bwahahaha**

**rozukitsune**


	5. Bad planning

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Summary: Ansem the wise is the king of Twilight town. His brother Xemnas is not only jealous but intends for his son Sephiroth to take the throne instead of Ansem's son Riku. Unfortunately he knows just which buttons to push and Riku will have to use everything he knows to earn his rightful place as king.

Rating: T – For language, might raise the rating depending.

Warning: Spoilers from KH2, not much of them though. Yaoi, Riku +Sora pairing.

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(Chapter 4: Bad planning)

And so the plan was put into effect, everything continued in life as relatively normal for the royals as possible with their upcoming birthdays.

"My eighteenth birthday…" Riku muttered under his breath in annoyance as he was dressed from head to toe in red silks by several of the maids. He couldn't have very well asked Sora to help him dress as he'd probably never get dressed with that adorable boy hanging around and sticking pins in him. The idea itself had brought a flush to Riku's pale cheeks so severe that his maids spent the morning gossiping that he'd gotten a bit tipsy to celebrate his coming of age.

"The day that stupid Sephiroth takes the stupid throne." Riku sighed. He had told Sora that nothing mattered to him as long as the younger teen was beside him always, but the truth was that he had been looking forward to becoming king since way before he'd even met Sora, and he was starting to feel just a tad depressed.

Suddenly there was screaming in the hallway, and at first Riku paid it no mind, figuring that it was probably some servant who thought she saw a ghost in the hall closet, but then the screams were echoed by several other voices followed by loud shouting. Riku frowned, something was wrong, quickly he tugged himself out of the insistent hands of his maids and rushed out into the hallway trailing yards of red fabric behind him as he went.

He raced down the hallway, going the opposite direction of some of the maids before one of them noticed him snatching a sword from a suit of armor in the hallway. "Your highness! Come quick! It's awful! An assassin attacked his majesty!" The maid squealed with fear shining in her eyes.

"Where? I'm on my way!" He said as she pointed behind her to the large dining room. His feet pounded against the marble floor and he cursed the fact that the hallways in the castle were so long.

He burst in through the double doors of the dining room just in time to see the swish of a black cloak exiting to the right hand door to the room. He eyed his father, bleeding to death on a chair before swiftly deciding that the maids would help him. Riku was needed where that assassin was headed.

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(The black castle)

Sephiroth heard a great moan in the room nearby and raised a white eyebrow. "Father?" He called curiously. He strode across the study and opened the door to the hallway to see his father double over and collapse on the ground, a man dressed shabbily in street clothes leering over him hungrily. "You! Commoner! What have you done!"

A glint of steel caught Sephiroth's eye followed by the sound of liquid hitting the black tile floor. "You… you demon! You shall die for your treachery!" He leapt forward and crushed the assassin beneath his weight. Drawing out a sword that he happened to have been carrying on his belt he quickly sliced off the man's head, not particularly worried about getting repercussions for killing the man without asking him any questions first. Damn it… he didn't deserve a jury, that was too kind.

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It was several hours later that the cousin's stood side by side by their parents graves. The criminals had been dealt with and all that was left was sorrow. Though never in agreement on anything in their lives, the two men had at last found common ground with one another at the murders of their fathers. As they began to leave the gravesite Sephiroth paused a moment, glancing back one last time to Xemnas' grave. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and turned around to glance into familiar aquamarine eyes.

"I can't believe they're gone." Riku muttered sadly, his eyes clouded with sadness. He didn't know if Sephiroth's relationship with his father was the same as his own, but regardless the man deserved to know that if nothing else he was not alone in grieving.

"What kind of person would kill both kings in one day… what have they to gain from it? Tomorrow is our birthdays anyways… the throne will automatically default to us. What was the point in it?" Sephiroth replied, his dark eyes narrowing as he realized that perhaps he shouldn't have killed that idiot earlier. Then at least they would have some of their questions answered.

"There were two of them… and both of them gone because we're too hot-headed to handle a thing like death." Riku replied, his eyes flashing with anger.

Sephiroth offered him a soft pat on the back. "Well… I suppose they would have died eventually anyways right? No one lives forever… perhaps destiny wanted it this way. Now we don't have any excuses to live our lives the way that we want to."

There was a distinct devilish gleam in Seph's eyes but Riku didn't notice it, too caught up in his own grief to realize that Sephiroth had just gotten over his.

"Come on Riku… let's go back to the castle and celebrate our birthdays."

-----

In actuality their birthdays were about a week apart, with Sephiroth being the elder of the two cousins. But ever since they had been small they had always celebrated the day in the middle of the week together because it was always easier to throw one big party than two. Riku spent the rest of the evening in his room, memories from that morning replaying in his mind.

"How could I have been so selfish… worrying only about myself and becoming king… when I should've been thinking about what would happen to my father once Sephiroth took the throne." Riku whispered to himself.

"You shouldn't blame yourself; no one could've known that this would happen today." replied a gentle voice.

Riku glanced up to see Sora smiling at him comfortingly with his big blue eyes. The younger man sat next to him and put an arm around his waist. "It will be o.k. Riku. I just know it will." Sora said, drawing the older man to him.

"Sora…" Riku responded, burying his face in the other's shoulders. "I hope you're right… I really hope you are." He whispered in response.

----

"I hereby decree as your new king, that the rule that states that one must marry one of the opposite sex in order for it to count as marriage, has been lifted. Marry whom you desire my people! For love see's not gender, nor race, nor wealth! Love sees only love, even if it see's it many times in many different people! Thusly you may also marry more than one person." Sephiroth bellowed over the balcony and the people below cheered.

It seemed like a rather silly new rule to the people, but they knew that if they didn't cheer then it would probably be off with their heads.

Sephiroth grinned darkly to himself as he walked back into the throne room. His dreams of that chocolate haired servant that Riku had been coddling as of late had brought him to this magnificent conclusion. He could now marry who he pleased and he planned to start with that little virgin boy. True that the servant was only a year younger than himself… visibly. But though no one knew it Sephiroth was actually far older than his age, being in his early thirties. His father had never told him of the spell of youth that had been placed on the boy when he was just a baby. Xemnas' plan for world domination had been in it's infant stages then… literally. All that Xemnas knew was that he had to stall the boy's growth and hide his presence from the world until Ansem also bore an heir. It had been foretold that this would come to pass and Xemnas figured it would be in his best interest for Sephiroth to be the same physical age as Riku.

Unfortunately, the side effect of this was that once Sephiroth was 'born' he was remarkably bright for an infant. People had insisted on him being enrolled in special schools. Xemnas had to beat the brilliance out of his child time and again, insisting that he needed to be just like a normal child for the good of his own future. Sephiroth had never lost this keenness, having several extra years to learn of his world than most infants ever did.

All of Sephiroth's hard work had paid off; he would be the celebrated king of the prophecy. He had to be, after all Riku could not possibly be as bright or as strong as Sephiroth was. Never in a million years…

"Roxas!" Sephiroth bellowed and the young teenage boy appeared in almost an instant. His electric blue's reminding Sephiroth of that servant he was about to order for himself. "Bring me… Sora. That boy that's been hanging out with Riku. I want him alive and preferably unharmed… though that's not a must." Sephiroth grinned darkly, imagining the boy in ways that significantly aroused him.

----

"Sora? Sora!" Riku raced through the castle. He searched the towers and lost himself in the hallways. He dived into the gardens and strained the pools. He inquired every maid… no sign of him. Riku collapsed in a hallway on one of the top floors, exhausted. He had disappeared! The love of his life had simply vanished off the face of the planet, much like the way that he'd come into Riku's life in the first place. A warm summer breeze in an otherwise cold and wintry life.

"Oh Sora… where have you gone? Why did you leave?" Riku begged quietly, tears falling from his aquamarine eyes as he sobbed in the hallway, curling up in a ball and just sitting there for a few hours.

"Oh get up you sniveling fool…" reprimanded a rough but familiar voice.

Riku glanced up slowly to observe his trainer in all of his massive height. The man had grown taller as Riku had grown older, he still towered over Riku who had finally stopped growing at almost 6' in height.

Riku scowled at the brunette, turning his face back into his slacks to let some more tears fall. "What do you want Axel?" He asked angrily. "I'm not exactly in the mood to talk to you right now."

"You're looking for Sora… right?"

Riku's body reacted instantaneously, a force of ill-contained rage, as he leapt off from the floor and grabbed the spiky brunette by the front of his dark robe and drew his face down to his own level so that he could look him in those dark eyes. "You know where he is! Axel… if you've harmed one hair on his head…" Riku snarled into the man's face.

"Riku, Riku… you jump to conclusions far too quickly." Axel said nonchalantly, brushing the teen's hands off of his collar and straightening it thoughtfully. "I've merely been sent to you as a messenger… his highness, King Sephiroth, has him in custody and challenges you to a battle over him."

"Sephiroth! I'm going to tear him limb from limb… that good for nothing bastard!" Riku tore away from Axel without even listening to anything the man had said, racing down the hallway and taking the stairs via the banister.

"Here he comes Marluxia… but I wonder, can you handle him?" Axel muttered under his breath grinning softly.

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**The suspense is killing me. XD**

**rozukitsune**


	6. To the rescue

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Summary: Ansem the wise is the king of Twilight town. His brother Xemnas is not only jealous but intends for his son Sephiroth to take the throne instead of Ansem's son Riku. Unfortunately he knows just which buttons to push and Riku will have to use everything he knows to earn his rightful place as king.

Rating: T – For language, might raise the rating depending.

Warning: Spoilers from KH2, not much of them though. Yaoi, Riku +Sora pairing.

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(Chapter 5: To the rescue)

Riku dashed up to the doorway of the black castle. 'I'm going to kill you Sephiroth you bastard!' He thought as the doors loomed up above him.

"You're not going any farther." Said a male voice, a familiar spiky haired blonde guarding the doorway… along with about a hundred strange creatures that looked like they could've been Samurai's… but more monstrous.

"Roxas?" Riku said, pausing momentarily in his thirst for blood as he stared at his old friend.

"That's right Riku… time to turn the tables eh? Ready for our final battle?" The blonde grinned, leaning on his usual two blades as though they were only there to hold him up.

'He sure has gotten cocky hasn't he… ?' Riku thought while whipping out his dragon-wing shaped blade from its sheath.

"What are you doing?" He called back in confusion. Surely Roxas wasn't here to stop him… was he?

"The royal guard has been alerted that you might have been coming here today. It's our job to stop you Riku… or die trying." Roxas said apologetically,

"Roxas… Sephiroth has Sora! And you're seriously going to stop me from trying to save him?" Riku demanded, his voice laced with disbelief.

Riku could see the flash of sorrow in Roxas' eyes. The young man didn't want to go through with this…

"The king ordered me to guard the doors Riku… and that's what I'm going to do." Roxas replied, whipping up his blades into a fighting stance.

"Samurai attack!" Roxas ordered, his horde of minions rushing forward unexpectedly. Riku randomly wondered where all these strange monsters had come from and why they were even listening to Roxas.

But there would be more time for asking questions later, Riku jumped into the air and began slashing left and right, loosing sight of Roxas in the crowd of Samurai.

"What the hell are these things?" He asked aloud as the creatures fell without bleeding… in fact they merely disintegrated into sparkles of light.

"They're called Nobodies… some of the members of the guard were granted power to summon certain kinds of nobodies. They're monsters that obey our bidding without question." Roxas replied from nearby, Riku barely blocking the two-bladed slash that had come from behind.

"So now you hide behind monsters? How cowardly." Riku responded slashing at Roxas, but the boy vanished in a sparkle of light.

"We were also trained in specific kinds of magic…" Roxas' voice said from somewhere far away. Riku slashed through the throng some more.

'Magic? Good god…' "Did you have to be granted that too?" He shouted as another Samurai fell to his sword.

"Nope… everyone has magic in them Riku… we're just trained, unlike you." Roxas replied and Riku lifted his blade in front of his eyes just in time to block the blast of brilliant light that Roxas had thrown at him.

"Damn…" Riku breathed, slashing the last of the Samurai into nothingness. He spun around in search of Roxas. Dashing to the side as a bright beam of light rushed at him, leaving a scorch mark in the ground where he was just standing. "Stop playing like a kid and fight me!" Riku yelled, jumping over to where the light had come from and slashing down.

Riku smiled as his blade hit the two that Roxas had brought up to block his attack, forcing the kid to reveal himself to Riku. He pulled back his arm and slashed straight on this time, being blocked once again by one of the youth's weapons whilst the other tried to come crashing down on his head.

Riku blocked the attack and jumped backwards whilst Roxas advanced, the two of them dancing the familiar steps of battle. Side slash, back slash, block. It was difficult to fight with one weapon against two, but thankfully for Riku he'd been practicing with Roxas for practically his entire life. Two weapons would not help the spiky blonde any more than one weapon would help Riku. Magic was forgotten in the heat of battle, Roxas now concentrating on trying to block all of Riku's well-honed attacks.

"Roxas… I don't want to hurt you. There has to be another way…" Riku insisted as he slashed forward, finally getting through Roxas' defense a bit to run his blade through the edge of the younger man's shirt, slicing off a bit of fabric.

"What do you suggest Riku? That I disobey orders? That's called treason…" Roxas replied, his blue eyes suggesting that they'd be eager to listen to Riku if only he had a plan.

Riku looked thoughtful for a moment and took to the defensive as he was too distracted to do much else. Indeed… how could he ask Roxas to disobey the orders of the King without getting the blonde in trouble for treason? On the one hand, Sora was waiting for him in Sephiroth's dirty clutches and the bastard had set Roxas (and probably the rest of the guard) out to make sure he wouldn't be able to reach his the love of his life. On the other, Roxas was his friend, they'd fought each other only for the fun of it all those years that they'd grown up together and Riku couldn't very well kill him just because he was following orders (evil orders but orders nonetheless). It posed quite a problem.

Suddenly Riku realized something else, though most of the guard were people he'd never really bothered to get to know personally… there was one other guard member that he knew. Axel! He would have to fight his mentor? Riku thought on that one for a minute. Axel had always struck Riku as an aloof but tough taskmaster. He remembered fondly of all the times he'd threatened to write Axel up for murder because the brunette always forced him to the brink of exhaustion with his nightmare training. Another thing Riku had noticed was the fact that there was always something else on his mind, like he was training Riku to prepare him for a future that was probably quite similar to this.

"Roxas… I think Axel knew this was going to happen someday." Riku said, slashing down and finding his weapon caught within both of Roxas' once again.

"What?" Roxas asked in surprise, momentarily caught off guard.

"Axel knew that I was going to have to fight the guard someday… that's why he was training me so hard…" Riku muttered, seeming surprised at his own conclusion.

The both of them paused in the position they were in, contemplating the possibilities of this tangent. If Axel had known this… then he probably knew a lot more that he'd never told either of them. He probably even knew about Sephiroth's plan to steal Sora! But even though it would have been treason not to tell Riku of the truth, Riku had a sneaking suspicion that Axel had been working to keep him safe all along, although probably grudgingly at first.

"You two sure are dense… if you just started figuring me out now…" said an amused male voice from the nearby trees.

Riku and Roxas both glanced up as Axel jumped down out of his hiding place in the tree. He folded his arms and stared at the two of them thoughtfully. "There's more to this whole thing that I don't have the time to explain to the two of you right now… but believe me when I say that I'm on your side Prince Riku." Axel said, inclining his head slightly in the first ever sign of respect that the older man had ever shown to him.

"Suffice it to say this, there's far more at stake here than you realize your highness… but I have a plan on how to get you out of this unharmed." Axel continued, his dark eyes shimmering softly in a rare smile.

Riku nodded to Axel and withdrew his sword from Roxas. "Well? What do we do?" He asked, paying as close attention as he fully trusted his longtime mentor.

"Firstly… you have to keep fighting the guard members. Eventually you will reach me… and that's when the fun will begin. I would appreciate it if you didn't actually harm each other… it would be a shame for such friends to become enemies." Axel grinned at the two of them, who then grinned back.

"I'll pretend to die then right?" Roxas asked thoughtfully.

Axel nodded, "Since you've got the power of light… it will be incredibly easy for you to do so. Anyway, Riku remember your training, not all of the members of the guard are difficult, but some of them are extremely tough. If you are truly my student you should be able to defeat all of them without too much trouble. Now I can't explain any more to you, someone might see me here with you two. Thankfully I already took the liberty of taking out all the outside camera's so that they could not video-tape this conversation… catch up with you later!" Axel leapt back into the trees and out of sight.

Riku turned back to Roxas, who brandished his weapons and grinned cheesily, "Let's go!"

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Side slash, back slash, overhead block. The two of them fought as before. Axel's timing could not have been more perfect as Marluxia's eyes could be found looking over the window-ledge to see what was going on at that moment. He had only just noticed that the camera's had been disabled… this could be easily explained away as Roxas' power of light must have short-circuited them. He watched hungrily as the two went at it. 'Die little prince…' He was greatly disappointed however when suddenly Riku's blade seemed to go directly through the blonde. A shuddering gasp echoing through the courtyard. 'Damn… oh well.' And he drew his head back inside, preparing to watch the video camera's from the first floor.

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Riku thrust his Soul Eater forward as Roxas concentrated on refracting the light around him, to any onlooker, it would have appeared as though the dragon-wing shaped blade had gone right through the blonde, but to them Riku had cleanly missed by mere inches. Roxas gave a convincing death-gasp then winked at Riku and disappeared into sparkles of light.

"Catch you later…" whispered the blonde in Riku's ear as he faded off into nothingness.

Riku grinned and nodded to himself. "Later." He whispered back, hefting his sword up over his shoulder and striding into the large mansion.

He brought his foot up and kicked the double doors with all the force he could muster. They flew open obediently with a resounding crash against the walls. He stepped inside, taking his weapon off of his shoulder and keeping it at the ready for when his next opponent would appear.

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**That double-crossing sneak, Bwahahaha… **

_**Axel: Heh… two brilliant plans in one fanfic, I'm on a roll.**_

**rozu: You're the man Axel.**

_**Axel: XD**_

_**Riku: Hey! What about me? I'm the one doing all the fighting here.**_

**rozu: You're awesome too Riku.**

_**Riku: That's better**_

_**Roxas: Hey! What about…**_

**rozu: You too Roxas.**

_**Roxas: beams**_

_**The rest of the cast members: Hey!**_

**rozu: Ok that's enough of that.**

**- rozukitsune**


	7. The fight continues

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Summary: Ansem the wise is the king of Twilight town. His brother Xemnas is not only jealous but intends for his son Sephiroth to take the throne instead of Ansem's son Riku. Unfortunately he knows just which buttons to push and Riku will have to use everything he knows to earn his rightful place as king.

Rating: T – For language, might raise the rating depending.

Warning: Spoilers from KH2, not much of them though. Yaoi, Riku +Sora pairing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 6: The fight continues)

Riku brought his foot up and kicked the double doors with all the force he could muster. They flew open obediently with a resounding crash against the walls. He stepped inside, taking his weapon off of his shoulder and keeping it at the ready for when his next opponent would appear.

He finds waiting for him on the stairway a young man with a shock of short dirty-blonde hair. He is seated at the moment, strumming an oversized blue sitar with three spikes at the top.

Riku pauses in the middle of the entryway observing his musical opponent.

After the song seems to be over the man looks up and grins at Riku. "I thought you'd enjoy a bit of music before you die." He gets up onto his feet, holding the sitar in both hands, narrowing his eyes at Riku. "My name is Demyx, and I will be the last person you fight with today." He sneers.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Demyx." Riku replies taking a fighting stance.

Demyx grins and strums his sitar, as his fingers pass each string streams of water begin to flow into the area, forming the strangest creatures that Riku has seen yet.

"What the hell are those?" Riku demands.

"My Dancer Nobodies." He responds, strumming his fingers some more as his body begins to create copies of itself which surround Riku from all sides.

'Shit…!' Riku thought, 'this guy can duplicate himself! No wonder Axel said some of them were hard… oh well here goes…' Riku began slashing through the idiotic dancer nobodies that didn't seem to have too much intelligence in the way of fighting; rather they merely pranced around and tried to kick him in an obnoxious manner. As he killed them off they died in splashes of water, much like the Samurai nobodies died in sparkles of light.

'His magic must be water.' Riku determined, standing now in front of the several Demyx'. They all began to strum their sitar's creating streams of water that came out in attempts to hurt him. Riku sprang into his footwork, sliding his sword into its sheath at the same time as diving into a somersault. As soon as his feet touched the ground he sprang back up and went into a flying kick… going right through one of the illusion Demyx'. 'Damn!' Riku thought, spinning around to watch the others all laugh at him.

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Marluxia surveyed the battle on the first floor with a bit of interest. "So the reason I had to withdraw Luxord is because you believe I should save him for later?" The brown haired man raised an eyebrow to the spiky-reddish brown haired male beside him.

"Here's the way I see it… if we save all of the best fighters till last and then use them all at once on him there's no way his highness will survive. But instruct them not to kill him… we want him put in jail… otherwise everything we've worked for will come to naught." Axel replied grinning menacingly.

Marluxia smiled fiendishly in response, "I see… you never cease to amaze me… and to think that a man in such high of a status as you would have so little trouble working underneath a newcomer like me." He said almost as a question, raising an eyebrow at Axel.

"Oh, I don't believe I'm under you. I prefer to think of us as two men who have the same vision working together." Axel replied offhandedly.

Marluxia tilted his head slightly in observation. "I see… but what about when I officially become higher in status than you Axel? Will you become jealous and try to overthrow me."

Axel laughed, "Marluxia… come now you must know me better than that. Why would I even waste my time helping you now if I intended to overthrow you later?"

Marluxia observed him some more then nodded smiling. "I understand… truly we both must have the same vision." He turned back to watching the camera just in time to see Demyx get impaled with Riku's blade. The man gasped then sank into a puddle of water.

"This plan of yours suddenly strikes me as a rather good idea…" Marluxia muttered in annoyance.

Axel grinned, "I knew you'd see it my way." He walked out to third floor to join the four others that were waiting there.

"Ok everyone… here's what the prince ordered…"

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Riku burst onto the next floor after climbing a rather obnoxious flight of stairs filled with more of those obnoxious monsters, these one's seeming to be entirely insane and trying to kamikaze themselves upon him. He stumbled onto the next floor to find a man with long blue hair grinning at him psychotically. "Here's where you stop boy." Saix said, whipping out his overly large claymore.

Metal crashed against metal, but unlike the battle against Demyx, Riku found this idiot amazingly easy and had turned him into dust in no time.

He sped on to the last floor, grinning to himself, this was truly too easy… so far.

At the top of the floor he gazed into the next room, a sense of impending doom riding in his heart. There stood five guards, all standing in a circle around the door.

'Shit… am I going to have to fight all of them?' He wondered inwardly, slowly stepping into the room, gripping the hilt of his sword a little tighter and reminding himself that he'd been in training just for a day like this.

The men jeered at him and the door slammed behind him as he entered. Riku stared them all down as he walked into the center of their circle. "Who want's to go first?" He asked them, challenging each of them with a fierce glance in his eyes.

"Give up pipsqueak, you'll never get through all of us." Said a well-built hulk of a man with short light brown hair. "We're on orders to cream you all at once."

A man with several grey streaks in his hair, which was worn in a ponytail, whips out his gun arrows and starts of the battle, shooting them at Riku without waiting for an invitation. Riku immediately dodges, flipping backwards to avoid the arrows. Immediately chaos ensues.

Six lances come seemingly out of nowhere and start hacking and slashing at Riku on their own. Riku finds himself doing a desperate dance to keep out of their way. Not to mention that though he is trying so hard not to loose time, one of them seems to be controlling that element in particular, making him get hit even when he was clearly going to get out of the way.

'Sora… I'm so sorry… I … I can't save you.' Riku thinks bitterly as he tries to find his way through the barrage of attacks being thrown at him. He couldn't dodge them all… and dodging wasn't helping him win any battles. Soon enough he wouldn't be able to keep it up … and then they'd kill him for sure.

"_Riku… don't give up!"_

Riku blinked and dived to the side as another arrow narrowly missed him. He jumped up and grabbed a lance that was hovering in midair, and hoisted himself onto it, glancing around to see who had said that.

He had mere moments to register the voice when a blinding light seared through the room, Riku having covered his eyes just in time. When he hazarded a glance outside of his arms he grinned and hopped down off of the lance, which had immediately begun to fall down anyway.

The cameras in the surrounding vicinity were all smoldering quietly from the intensity of the light and were now rather useless… allowing yet another traitor in the midst of the fighters to start throwing his chakrams into the backs of people.

"Hey, Axel! Watch where you're throwing those things!" Grumbled Xigbar who noticed the vague shape of a chakram slicing through his shirt.

"Sorry Xig… thought you were Riku." Axel replied, being the only one other than Riku who hadn't been blinded by Roxas' light.

Speaking of which, the blonde had returned to his physical state and was helping Axel pick off the blinded guards members one by one.

Riku raced off down the hallway, leaving them to finish what he'd nearly failed in doing himself.

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Marluxia glanced up in pure surprise as Riku burst through the throne room on his screen.

"No… it isn't possible… how did he survive through all of them!" Marluxia tried in vain to get the camera's from the third floor to co-operate but failed. "Damn… I've got to get out of here…"

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Riku burst through the great double doors of the throne room, and was immediately surprised by what he saw waiting there for him.

Sephiroth was doodling on the walls in red lipstick in the corner like a two year old while on the throne itself, the most evil whore on the planet was trying to take advantage of a certain cinnamon-haired young man who was desperately trying to get out of her clutches.

"Shhh… stop struggling… it'll be alright." Larxene cooed, slipping her hands beneath his pants line.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" Riku bellowed, and without even pausing, brought up his free left hand and shot a ball of incinerating flames at her, she turned around at the sound of his voice and gasped as the flames hit her dead-on, causing her to crumple to the ground in pain.

"Y-you… how the hell did you get through security…" Larxene muttered, picking herself up off the ground.

"Riku! Riku! Help me Riku!" Sora shrieked, struggling against his bonds some more, dried tears visible upon his cheeks and lines where the witches nails had been scratching him running all across his bare chest.

"Don't worry Sora… I'm coming." Riku replied stepping over to Larxene.

"How dare you touch him… where the hell do you get the nerve….!" Riku gasped in mid angry-tirade. He glanced down to observe the dagger that she had managed to throw directly into his abdomen. He turned his head back to her and picked up his sword, roaring angrily.

"RIKU, behind you!" Sora shouted fearfully. Riku didn't even bother glancing, dive-rolling to the side just as a pink scythe sliced through the air where he was merely seconds before.

"I see now how you escaped my clutches you insolent brat." Marluxia said calmly, stepping further into the throne room and helping Larxene up onto her feet.

"But no more will that traitorous little boy be aiding you. I took care of him." He grinned fiendishly as Riku raised his head slightly, staring in mute astonishment as Xigbar, Xaldin and Axel stepped into the room, staring at Riku mutinously. Though Riku noticed, Axel's stare was slightly different from the other two, his instead seemed to be withholding a shadow behind it as well.

"Now… let us go Larxene." Marluxia grinned and grabbed Sora who screamed and squirmed. Riku slowly rose to his feet, trying to figure out what the hell Marluxia was talking about.

Then suddenly the look in Axel's eyes made sense. "Roxas…?" He whispered in surprise, hazarding a glance at Axel, who didn't respond.

Just as Marluxia was about to get away though a brilliant light blocked their way. Axel turned around out of habit, staring as the light dimmed in mute astonishment.

The blonde stood in the doorway, wielding both of his blades tightly, looking battered and bloody but not down for the count yet.

"What! How the hell did you survive….?" Marluxia muttered in shock, drawing his scythe up in annoyance. "Well… I'll be sure to destroy you this time… once and for all!"

Riku leapt to attention, throwing more balls of fire at everyone in the room. Axel dodged them nimbly and threw Riku a short glance of mixed emotions before disappearing from view. Riku grinned back and found himself once again dodging arrows and lances. This time though Riku felt more confident in himself. He used the lances as poles, swinging himself around them and kicking Xaldin in the chest or the head, causing him to be a little sloppier in his attacks. Meanwhile he tossed firaga blasts at Xigbar who was down for the count in mere minutes, leaving Riku alone with Xaldin.

Meanwhile the fight between Marluxia and Roxas was heating up, the scythe crashed against one blade or another, never quite getting through the blonde's defense, not that it mattered as Marluxia sent wave after wave of sharp petals after him, scratching him up infinitely more than he'd been hurt.

Roxas gritted his teeth and fought on, angry for allowing himself to be beaten in the first place… though admittedly Marluxia had been rather sneaky about it and had attacked him from behind back in the other room.

Sora watched all of this fighting with a growing sense of doom. "Riku…" He muttered softly, watching the silver-haired prince fighting for his life in one corner of the room, unaware of the fact he was still bleeding slowly from the dagger in his gut.

Larxene drew out another dagger and drew it across Sora's neck. "Well… if I can't have you my dear… then no one can."

Sora whimpered, feeling the soft skin cut easily and a small amount of blood start to drip down his neck. He couldn't let it all end like this. He glanced at Roxas, that blonde that reminded Sora so much of himself. If the boy that looked like him could fight, then perhaps he could too…

He jumped out of Larxene's grasp with an amazing burst of strength, diving into the way of a stray firaga ball that Riku had fired at Xaldin. The fire burned his skin a bit, but also made the ropes tying him up much easier to break free from. He was free again.

Out of the corner of his eye he observed a young blonde girl in the corner and paused a moment… 'who is she?' He wondered, but didn't have long to think about it when Larxene charged after him, throwing kunai knives and thunder attacks after him.

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**Naminé: Hi everyone… just here to explain a couple things. In this chapter I sort of mess with Sora's memories so that he knows how to fight… sorry for the confusion. I explain myself to him next chapter.**

**rozu: Gee Naminé, spoil the whole story why don't you?**

**Naminé: Oh come on… that isn't a big part of the story.**

**rozu: oh no? Maybe I should just cut your part out entirely then… since it's not important…. -wields large scissors-**

**Naminé: Uh… on second thought readers… forget what I said.**

**rozu: -beams-**


	8. A fond farewell

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Summary: Ansem the wise is the king of Twilight town. His brother Xemnas is not only jealous but intends for his son Sephiroth to take the throne instead of Ansem's son Riku. Unfortunately he knows just which buttons to push and Riku will have to use everything he knows to earn his rightful place as king.

Rating: T – For language

Warning: Spoilers from KH2, not much of them though. Yaoi, Riku +Sora pairing.

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(Chapter 7: A fond farewell)

Sora found himself dodging even though he really had no idea how to fight, somehow it came naturally to him. He couldn't do much though without a weapon, a problem that ceased to exist however when a tall reddish-brown haired man appeared out of nowhere and stuck an overly-large chakram into her back without a seconds pause.

"I hope you go to hell… whore…" He muttered viperously then disappeared again.

"Hey… thanks…" Sora sputtered, finding himself a little lost.

He turned around just in time to see Xaldin fall to Riku's blade. The final blow being a spectacular spin attack by the silver-haired young man. Riku stood over the body for a moment before collapsing to his knees and finally pulling the dagger out, causing a lot of blood to suddenly spill forth from his body. Riku lost consciousness and toppled over.

"RIKU!" Sora shouted, diving over to him and catching him in his arms.

"I can help…" The blonde girl said, walking over to them.

Sora glanced at her with sad eyes. "Please… please?"

She nodded and motioned for him to help her remove Riku's shirt. Taking out a small doctoring bag.

"I'm Naminé, I hope you can forgive me… I was sort of playing with your memories a few minutes ago… giving you the knowledge to fight." She blushed faintly as she began wiping up the blood with a rag.

Sora blinked at her, "Woah! You can do that?"

She smiled, "Yeah… ever since I was little I've been able to re-arrange people's memories. They thought I was a witch and I was forced into slavery."

"How awful!" He replied conversationally as he held Riku down while she doctored his wound, the alcohol causing him to thrash a bit.

"Yeah… well anyways, you looked like you could use a little help so I gave you some fighting memories." She beamed at him.

"Ok… well you were just trying to help. So I forgive you." Sora smiled back.

Riku groaned as she wrapped his midsection in gauze and he slowly opened his eyes. "S-Sora?" He asked quietly.

"Shh… it's alright Riku… you're going to be alright." Sora replied beaming brightly.

"But… what about Axel… and Roxas?" Riku asked forcing himself into a sitting position despite Sora's insistence.

Riku's aquamarine eyes crossed the room to where the battle between Marluxia and Roxas had been waging only moments before. The only thing he could see now however was Axel kneeling off in the corner seemingly alone, his back hunched and his head down.

"Shit." Riku breathed, jumping onto his feet, Sora joining him to help him walk over to the older man, despite the fact that Riku kept insisting he was fine and could walk on his own.

"Axel?" Riku asked cautiously, finally getting close enough to see the damage. Neither Roxas nor Marluxia were anywhere to be found, though if they were anything like his previous battles they had probably vanished into nothingness. Only the tears slowly running down the older man's cheeks could attest to the truth of the matter.

"Shit… Axel… I'm so sorry." Riku said softly, kneeling down beside him.

Axel shook his head slowly and turned to smile sadly at Riku. "Take care of yourself…" He managed to gasp. It was then Riku notice the piece of pink scythe still attached to the man's chest.

"Axel! No…" Riku stuttered, but couldn't say any more as slowly the man burst into flames and then vanished just like the rest of them.

"Axel… I will never forget you." Riku muttered sadly.

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Many years later, Sephiroth had been committed to an institution, Naminé had explained that she couldn't put his memories back together and had been pardoned from persecution by Riku who frankly didn't mind that his cousin had gone insane. Another thing Naminé's meddling had done though, was break the spell keeping Seph at the same age as Riku which made it even funnier that the elder man was acting like a two-year old.

Riku had seen to it that a memorial to both Roxas and Axel was built in the town square commemorating them as the two most loyal men on the face of the planet. Meanwhile, since Sephiroth had already so kindly broken the rule about being forced into opposite sex-marriage, Riku and Sora were wed and ruled the kingdom together.

To their subject's surprise, having two kings wasn't half as bad as they'd thought, in fact, the two of them brought an unprecedented prosperity and peace to the land, doing everything in their power to both keep the people happy and keep the other worlds happy. Riku was in charge of over sea's conflicts, while Sora worked at home. It was a perfect arrangement. Sora knew how it was to be one of the poor and understood their plight. He balanced both the needs of those in power and the needs of those that had no jobs with an ease that made all of the people love him.

As for Riku, he had an amazing capacity to deal with politics and for the most part managed to keep them out of wars, only sending people into battle if he was truly certain it was necessary for their safety, and even then he was certain they were as well-trained as he was so that the rate of death was as slim as possible.

From time to time, Riku found himself missing Axel and Roxas, but he smiled at their memory. He had promised he'd never forget them… and it was a promise he would keep.

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**rozu: And everyone lives happily ever after! The end**

**Axel: What a cop-out ending… What about the dead people? How is it that we live happily ever after?**

**rozu:… uh…**

**Axel: That's it… I'm not working for you anymore… my brilliance is obviously wasted on you.**

**rozu: hey… wait a minute…**

**Roxas: Yeah, me too.**

**Rozu: Hey!**

**Riku: The last few stories were way better than this one… which is sad because people haven't even replied to 'Phoenix Rising'. **

**Rozu: HEY!**

**Sora: And what was up with me suddenly knowing how to fight? That came out of nowhere!**

**Rozu: HEY! Would you guys stop picking on me!**

**Axel, Roxas, Riku, Sora: Nope.**

**Rozu: -threatens with an eraser-**

**Axel, Roxas, Riku, Sora: You can't scare us… you've already published this story. XD**

**Rozu: Drat… **

**THE END**


End file.
